FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT TODD ZEILE - PAGE 2

Dodgers 5, Marlins 3: In Miami, Eric Karros hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and Todd Zeile and Raul Mondesi hit solo shots as Los Angeles won its third straight. Chan Ho Park (3-2) won for the first time in four starts since May 4, allowing three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Todd Worrell got his 14th save.

Todd Zeile broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single to highlight a three-run eighth inning. Ray Lankford led off the eighth with a triple off Gary Wayne (0-2). Zeile then lined a 3-0 pitch from Jeff Parrett for his second hit of the day. Tom Pagnozzi added an RBI single, and Jose Oquendo squeezed home a run later in the inning.

Tony Pena signed a $6.4 million, three-year contract with the Red Sox Monday as Boston ended its long reluctance to sign highly paid free agents in an attempt to end its catching problems. Pena, 32, a five-time All-Star who spent the last three seasons with St. Louis, will receive a $600,000 signing bonus and salaries of $1.5 million in 1990, $2.1 million in 1991 and $2.2 million in 1992. He earned $1.1 million last season. The Cardinals have high hopes for rookie catcher Todd Zeile.

This new Cubs regime has a lot to learn--starting with when to say: "Wait till next year." The temperatures are soaring, the June swoon has been in full swing, and still General Manager Ed Lynch and President Andy MacPhail are busy trying to keep the team in contention. They took a big step in the right direction Friday by sending veteran pitcher Mike Morgan and two undrafted minor-league players to the St. Louis Cardinals for all-purpose infielder and clutch hitter Todd Zeile.

The last thing Todd Zeile needs is to have more expectations heaped upon him. He went through that in St. Louis. And it wasn't fun--or productive. But the comparisons are inescapable, especially now that he is with the Cubs. When it comes to his approach to the game, Zeile is the closest thing to Ryne Sandberg since Sandberg. "I never managed Sandberg, but from everything I know and see Todd's an outstanding guy along the lines of Sandberg," said Cubs manager Jim Riggleman, whose ties to Zeile go back a decade when he worked with him in the Instructional League in 1986, the year the Cardinals drafted him, and managed him in Double A-Arkansas in 1988.

Cardinals manager Joe Torre, like the Cubs' Jim Lefebvre, has to deal with both his own team and the reality of the Philadelphia Phillies. "There's not a whole lot you can do about it," Torre said of the Phils' fast start. "There's still plenty of baseball left, and we've just got to be concerned with winning enough games ourselves. If the Phillies lose, it really doesn't matter unless you win." Watching the scoreboard? "It's not like it's August or September," he said.

Good news for the Cubs. Gonzo is coming alive. So is Todd Zeile. Everybody knew Zeile and Luis Gonzalez were solid additions when they came to the Cubs in separate trades in June. But truth be told, neither one had done much until lately. Zeile showed signs of snapping out of a month-long funk last weekend when he went 5 for 10 with a pair of homers to help lead the Cubs to a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. He kept the hot streak going and got a big assist from Gonzalez Tuesday night when the pair combined to drive in or score all but two of the Cubs' runs in a 7-5 win over the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Montreal Expos signed third baseman Todd Zeile on Wednesday, three days after the 15-year veteran was released by the New York Yankees. "I knew that I didn't want to end it the way things ended in New York," said Zeile, who turns 38 on Sept. 9. "If nobody called, then that's something I'll have to deal with at some point." Zeile has homered for a record 10 major-league teams and has 239 career home runs. He has been to the playoffs with three different clubs, getting to his only World Series three years ago with the New York Mets.

And you thought Shawn Boskie was gone. The former Cubs right-hander, who hadn't started a major-league game since last July 20 for Baltimore, went seven innings Friday night in Montreal to get the victory as the Expos routed the Atlanta Braves 14-1. Chris Widger homered twice and had four RBIs as Montreal beat Kevin Millwood. Millwood was trying to join teammate Greg Maddux as the NL's only 10-game winners but was rocked for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.